The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes.
We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.

WALDMAN-Lester. On April 8, 1997. The Board of Directors and the staff of the New York Society for the Deaf record with sorrow the passing of Lester Waldman. As a former Executive Director and Counsel to the Board, he was a vital member of our organization for over forty five years, offering valuable guidance in serving the Deaf Community with honor, integrity and leadership. We extend to his wife, Blanche, his son Michael who is also a Board Member of The New York Society for the Deaf, his daughter-in-law, Rebecca our deepest sympathy. Friends may call Thursday 7-9pm at Frank E. Campbell, 1076 Madison Avenue at 81st Street. Services Friday April 11, 10am at Temple Emanu-El, Fifth Avenue at 65th Street. Stephen Adler, Chairman Paul Kohnstamm, President Pearl Johnson, Exec Director.

NEW YORK (AP) _ An attorney in a $12 million lawsuit against a home for the deaf says mentally disabled patients were treated ``like animals,'' beaten, drugged and robbed of their government checks.

Caroline Torge, 28, a former director of the home on Manhattan's Lower East Side, on Tuesday sued the New York Society for the Deaf, which runs the home.

Residents were roughed up, even bruised, as workers tried to intimidate them, Torge said. Many were drugged to make them easier to supervise, she said.

The residents also were allowed to sexually abuse each other, she said, and one even molested a 2-year-old child in a public laundromat. The allegations outlined by Torge and her attorney, Allen Rich, involve six deaf patients with mental disabilities.

Pearl Johnson, the society's executive director, said she was aware of the lawsuit but would have no comment until she read it.

The patients, some with a vocabulary of only a few words, also were robbed of their Social Security benefits, Rich said. The society ``was treating these deaf and developmentally disabled people like animals,'' he said.

Torge was hired in March 1995 and became director a few months later. She said she reported the alleged abuses to her boss, but was told to keep quiet and not tell authorities.

She said she later told state authorities about the alleged abuses and of fraudulent billing practices. Torge said she left her job in January 1996 after being demoted and asked to take a pay cut.

Torge is seeking the money because she believes she was forced out of a job for trying to help the patients, Rich said.

The not-for-profit home is a beneficiary of funds from the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies as well as other private and government money. The home serves at least 60 other deaf residents who are not mentally disabled.

Disabled at group home abused, administrator says

An attorney in a $12 million lawsuit against a home for the deaf says mentally disabled patients were treated "like animals," beaten, drugged and robbed of their government checks. Caroline Torge , 28, a former director of the home on Manhattan's Lower East Side, on Tuesday sued the New York Society for the Deaf, which runs the home.

NEW YORK (AP) - An attorney in a $12 million lawsuit against a home for the deaf says mentally disabled patients were treated ``like animals,'' beaten, drugged and robbed of their government checks.

Caroline Torge, 28, a former director of the home on Manhattan's Lower East Side, on Tuesday sued the New York Society for the Deaf, which runs the home.

Residents were roughed up, even bruised, as workers tried to intimidate them, Torge said. Many were drugged to make them easier to supervise, she said.

The residents also were allowed to sexually abuse each other, she said, and one even molested a 2-year-old child in a public laundromat. The allegations outlined by Torge and her attorney, Allen Rich, involve six deaf patients with mental disabilities.

Pearl Johnson, the society's executive director, said she was aware of the lawsuit but would have no comment until she read it.

The patients, some with a vocabulary of only a few words, also were robbed of their Social Security benefits, Rich said. The society ``was treating these deaf and developmentally disabled people like animals,'' he said.

Torge was hired in March 1995 and became director a few months later. She said she reported the alleged abuses to her boss, but was told to keep quiet and not tell authorities.

She said she later told state authorities about the alleged abuses and of fraudulent billing practices. Torge said she left her job in January 1996 after being demoted and asked to take a pay cut.

Torge is seeking the money because she believes she was forced out of a job for trying to help the patients, Rich said.

The not-for-profit home is a beneficiary of funds from the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies as well as other private and government money. The home serves at least 60 other deaf residents who are not mentally disabled.

Caroline Torge, 28, former director of New York Society for the Deaf's home serving deaf residents, is accusing the home that mentally disabled patients were treated "like animals", beaten, drugged and robbed of their Social Security benefits. In a $12 million lawsuit filed in July, Torge also claims of sexual abuse and molestation and that she had reported the alleged abuses to her boss but was told to keep quiet and not tell authorities. She subsequently told state authorities about the alleged abuses and of fraudulent billing practices and was demoted. Allen Rich, her attorney, outlined the allegations in the lawsuit which involves six deaf patients with mental disabilities. NYSD executive director Pearl Johnson reportedly said she was aware of, but would not comment on, the lawsuit. The home, located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, receives funds from United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and other private and government money.

270 A.D.2d 153 (2000)

706 N.Y.S.2d 622

CAROLINE TORGE, Respondent,

v.

NEW YORK SOCIETY FOR THE DEAF et al., Appellants.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Department.

Decided March 23, 2000.

Concur — Tom, J. P., Rubin, Andrias, Buckley and Friedman, JJ.

Initially, plaintiff's failure to plead the specific discriminatory practices prohibited by Administrative Code of the City of New York § 8-107 (7) and Executive Law § 296 (7) as predicates for her claim of unlawful retaliation would be grounds for dismissal (Edwards v Board of Trustees of Colgate Rochester Divinity School,254 A.D.2d 709). However, on the merits, those provisions establish a standard that plaintiff was discriminated against "because of" her actual or perceived disability, and that the plaintiff thereby was refused various benefits. Plaintiff does not allege that she, herself, is disabled. This standard is not satisfied by plaintiff's allegations that her employment was terminated in connection with her alleged advocacy on behalf

of the institutional defendant's disabled clients. Plaintiff establishes, at best, defendant's possible misconduct unaccompanied by any discriminatory intent as required by the statute. Rather, plaintiff's allegations suggest misconduct generally affecting disabled persons under defendant's care, with their disability being only the occasion, but not the cause, of the alleged mistreatment. In that regard, plaintiff has failed to make the requisite showing in support of her unlawful retaliation claim that she was engaged in a protected activity known to the alleged retaliator, that she suffered an adverse employment action while engaged in the protected activity, and that there was a causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse employment action (Matter of Pace Univ. v New York City Commn. on Human Rights,200 A.D.2d 173, 182-183, revd on other grounds85 N.Y.2d 125; see, Galdieri-Ambrosini v National Realty & Dev. Corp.,136 F.3d 276, 292), requiring dismissal of the claims.

We have considered plaintiff's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit.

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Survivors ARE Heroes!

The Awareness Center believes ALL survivors of sex crimes should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.

Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.

For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!